Mother ship for watercrafts



March 6, 1945-` w. w. REEDY. sn`

MOTHER skiIP FOR WATER CRAFTS 3 Sheets-Sheet l Filed March 17, 1942 Al/L/a//Ler W Heedyf,

33M WWW @ma March 6, 1945. .w. w. REEDY, SR

'MOTHER SHIP FOR WATER CRAFTS Filed MarCh 17, 1942 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 Hmm Marh 6, 1945. w. w. REEDY, sR

MOTHER SHIP FOR WATER CRAFTS Filed March 17, 1942 s sheets-sheet s wua/rvfofv I/Vz//er -W Ready; 31:,

`described and claimed.

Patented Mar. 6, 1945 MOTHER SHIP WATERCRAFTS `Walter W. Reedy, Sr., Lebanon, Pa. Application March 17, 1942, Serial No. 435,091 1 claim. (o1. 11n- 135) This invention relates to mother ships for water E A crafts employed for war purposes, and has for the primary object the provision of a ship of the above stated character which may be provided with the l ',usual fighting equipment of a battleship or simi- -lar vessel for attacking and defensive purposes and in addition thereto will have berth facilities for a large number of speedy small water crafts and means for quickly and safely launching said small crafts at will so that they may be employed in attacking the enemy in large numbers, each offering an extremely small target for the enemy and possessing tremendous destructive power and speed.

Another object of this invention is the provision of facilities on the mother'ship for the repair, fueling and the resupplying of the small ghting lcrafts with ammunition of the'desired kind, also for reequipping said'crafts with guns and other firing devices as need therefor occurs.

A further object of this invention is the provision of a launching device which besides assuring quick and safe launching of the small water crafts, also includes means for the reberthing of said crafts after the return thereof to the mother ship from an attack on the enemy or from other war maneuvers.

With these and other objects in view as will :become more apparent as the description proceeds, the invention consists in certain novel features of construction, combination and arrangement of parts which will be hereinafter more fully For a complete understanding of my invention, reference is to be had to the following description and accompanying drawings, in which Figure l'is a side elevation, partly in section, illustrating a mother ship constructed in accordance with my invention and showing a plurality of small speedy fighting water crafts vberthed therein ready for launching.

Figure 2- is a top plan view partly broken away showing the mother ship and the accommodation of the small water craftstherein.

view showing the means of releasably securing the small crafts in berthed position and also showing the meansA of reberthing the small crafts.

Figure 4 is a fragmentary transverse sectional view taken through the line 4-4 on Figure 5, looking in the direction of the arrows.

Figure 5 is a fragmentary vertical sectional view showing one of the small fighting crafts berthedand the means of releasing the same for launching.

Figure 3 is a fragmentary longitudinal sectional '-45 Figure 6. is a rear elevation showing the doors for opening and closing the runways of the mother ship at the stern of said ship.

Figure 7 is a fragmentary perspective view illustrating a bar and one of its clamps for the quick attachment thereof to one of the endless cables employed in the reberthing of the small water crafts.

Referring in detail to the drawings, the numeral 5 indicates a mother shipor carrier,- for small speedy fighting water crafts designated generally by the characterA 6. Crafts of this character are nowl in use for nghting purposes, possessing a maximum amount ofy destructive power for the size thereof, vvhigh rates of speed and owing tothe smallnessthereof, offer extremely small targetsifor the-enemy. O-f course, a craft of this kind has a limited cruising radius and now are only used within a limited distance from a shore base.` However, through the'- use of the proposedv invention such small speedy fighting crafts may be employed on water whereever the enemy may be located. The invention permits the foregoing to be -successfully Acarried out. v

The mother ship 5,- as before stated, may be provided with the usual fighting equipment of a battleship or similar vessel so that it `may be employed for attacking and defensive purposes. Constructed in the hull of the ship 5 are parallel inclined runways l opening outwardly of the hull at the stern of the ship 5 and normally closed by doors 84 hingedly mounted, as shown at 9, so that said doorsmay open by gravitation. l Suitable hoisting means I0 is provided for closing the doors and also may be employed for limiting the downward movement-of the doors below the surface of the water. i

The runways 'l extend from the stern lof the ship 5 to a point within the `bow construction of said ship to give a maximum berthing facility for the crafts 6. The bow construction of the `ship 5 at the upper or head ends' ofthe `runways is preferably constructed to provide a workshop II wherein various equipment .may be arranged, for therepair, fueling and resupplying of the small water crafts berthed inv the' runways. It is to be understood that conventional Itravelingl cranes may be provided in the hull of the ship 5 ton a part of the reberthing mechanism. Suitable 1 braces I6 support the portions I5 and the bot-` torn wall I3 at spaced intervals is equipped with rollers I 8 each includingr substantially conical` shaped portions so that said rollers will more 'or 3 less take on the general contour of the bottoms of the crafts 6, permitting said crafts to move i over the track construction Vwith a minimum` amount of friction. The lower end of the track construction terminates at the stern of the ship 5 below the surface. of the Water, so that when the doors are open the crafts 6 may float off of or onto the track construction.

A plurality of chocks I'I are. arranged on the track construction to swing upwardly and downwardly are adapted to be abutted by the bows of the crafts 6 for sustaining them on the inclined track construction preferably spaced from each other in order that said crafts may be conveniently cared for still supporting said crafts as closely as possible to each other forthe purpose of vconserving space and permitting the greatest possible number of craftsto be accommodated on the track within the hull ofthe vessel or ship 5.

n is preferable that the chocks'be shaped to" rI5 wardly relative thereto, and when swung up" nection with the accompanying drawings, it will be Seen that a very ecient and practical carrier for small speedy fighting water crafts has been provided capable of travel along with other war vessels and will at the time of engaging an enemy Y be capable of attacking as well as defensive purconformto the contour of the bows' of 'the crafts B when in' engagement therewith and are secured` to shafts I9 journaled' transversely of the track below the bottom wall I3 thereof.

Handles 20 are provided forv the shafts I9 for swingingv the checks upwardly and downwardly and are provided with pins 2f' to be engaged by treadle type .latches 22 for releasably sustaining the checks inl upright or holding position the levers 20, together with-the treadle latches 22, being mounted in juxtaposition to the outer side of each of the horizontal portions or walkways f5 (catwalks), at the outer sides `only of the runways'l, the lower ends of the levers extending downwardly through the deck 5' for ccmnection` the head ends of the track construction andhave` endless cables 25 passed several times thereabout.; The endless cables are trained over a series of pulleys 26 on the track construction so that saidv endless cables extend the full length'of the track construction and with upper and lower runs, the upper runs being disposed over the portions t5 of the track construction.,

Loading bars operate in conjunction with the upper runs of the endless cables in reberthing the` crafts within the hull of the ship. 5, a fragmen-` tary portion of one of said bars being shown in Figure 7 and indicated by the `character 25. Suitable 'quick detachable clamps 2B' are connected with the ends ofthe bar 25." to permit the applicationand removal of the bar toy the. upper runs of the endless cables. It is to be understood that in the reberthing ot the crafts 6 in the. ship 5 the bars 25 are employed to engage with the end of the craft to be. loaded so that on the rotation of the drums r24; the craft will be moved along the inclined track construction of the runway to a point where it is to be berthed and a chock is moved into an upright position` sustaining the craft in its berthed position ready poses and that at the time of engagement a large number of speedy small fighting crafts can 'be successfully andv safely' launched therefrom in order that the small-crafts can be utilized in attacking the enemy with tremendous destructive power and still offer comparatively small targets for the enemy. Also a ship of the kind described may be successfully employed for convoy duty and against attacking submarines.y

Furthen'it will be seen that the small crafts y can be easily and quickly reberthed within the ship and serviced and relaunched if further attacksk are to be made immediatelyor may bereberthed for transportation byA the ship until again needed for attacking the. enemy. Y

While I have shown and described tho pre lferred embodiment of 'myinventiomit will be understood that. minor changes in construction, combination vand arrangement of parts may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as claimed.

Having thus described my invention, what l claim isz' n In a berthing and launching device for smell water craft on ships, animo-lined track, construction mounted in a ship and extending forwardly from an entrance'in the stern of the ship,l said track construction including a bottom Wall with side diverging walls and horizontal portions pro- Violine catwalks at each side of theftrack construction, anti friction rollers rotatably supported by the bottom wall for the support of small craft movable over the track construction, shafts journaled onthe track construction and extending under the bottom wall, said bottom wall having slots above said shafts, elongated channeled checks normally closing said slots and secured to the shafts and movable thereby, hand levers secured tothe shafts and extending through'l said deck alongside certain of the horizontal portions for operation by a person standing onthe latter to move the chocksto positions at substantially right angles to the vlistitem Wall to engage the bows of the small craft, treadle type latches mounted adjacent said levers to engage the levers to releasably sustain Athe checks in the stated berthed positions upwardlyalong the track constructionandr supported bythe horizontal Dor'- tions oi the track construction;

'WALTER W. nennt, en. 

